Things to do in Sydney this weekend

Shaun Rennie's production of Rent at the Sydney Opera House follows a gang of glorious misfits trying to make a quick buck in New York’s East Village in 1991. The march of gentrification is pushing artists out of their spiritual home, and the HIV/AIDS crisis is tightening its grip on the area's queer community. Mark, Roger, Angel and the gang band together to celebrate the triumph of love and art over adversity, in a loose re-imagining of Puccini's grand opera La Bohème.

Sunday is a new Potts Point rotisserie by one of the co-founders of Belles Hot Chicken: designed to evoke the casual, hearty comfort of Sunday night family dinners, but set inside a snazzy new restaurant and bar in one of the city's premier dining destinations. Morgan Mcglone, co-founder and head chef at Belles, is swapping the deep-fryer for the rotisserie – with the help of ex-Apera chef Ryan Blagrove. 

The Garden Social is a new event spanning across three weeks this summer. It brings together all the things you want on a balmy January evening: live tunes, outdoor dining and glorious views of the Harbour. Oh, and G'n'Ts, all night long. It's completely free, too. 

You could just pack some foil-wrapped sandwiches and soon-to-be-warm beers for your next alfresco dining experience – or you could pick up one of the Botanist Kirribilli's new picnic hampers.
They're packed with goodies like sliced mortadella, localcheddar smoked wagyu, duck liver pâte, crackers, and petite macarons. Grab a bottle of wine, and it's a date. 

Westpac OpenAir returns to Mrs Macquaries Point with the Opera House and Bridge as its staggering backdrop. Catch Naomi Watts in emotional biopic Penguin Bloom, lush queer historical drama Ammonite, hilarious looking Irish romantic movie Wild Mountain Thyme, Australian Western High Ground and classics including Love Actually, Almost Famous, Thelma & Louise, The Devil Wears Prada and Pulp Fiction. 

SWF is back at Carriageworks during this year’s Sydney Festival, with four fantastic events spread across the weekend of Saturday, January 16 and 17. Rapper, actor and children’s writer Briggs will be joined by the legendary Archie Roach and First nations storytellers in a session called Our Home, Our Heartbeat; this year’s Booker Prize-winner Douglas Sturt will speak live from New York about his stunning semi-auto-biographical novel Shuggie Bain. There's more where that came from, too. 

“All is fortune,” Malvolio announces in Shakespeare’s fabulously OTT rom-com Twelfth Night. It's hard not to agree. Consider us pumped for this latest take, staged at Sydney's New Theatre between January 6 to 26. A kooky classic about disguised identity and falling for the true spirit of a soul, this new staging, helmed by director and designer Victor Kalka, rests on the toss of a coin, as who each actor plays depends on how the silver lands on the night.

Gut instinct tells us there is cross over between people who love Disney and those who love dessert, and the center of that particular Venn diagram has just been gifted a Frozen-themed high tea. These are not just your run of the mill scones and mini tarts, the cake tower is being filled by Koi, famous for their beautiful pastries with elaborate flavour combinations and glossy, perfect finishes.

The multi-tiered cake-fest is themed to the the song 'In Summer', sung by the naive, weather optimist and anthropomorphised snowman, Olaf. As a result the cake line-up features a layered dessert of passionfruit, coconut and pineapple; the cherry jazz, made with fresh cherry, raspberry, jasmine, blood orange, and almond; a chocolate raspberry cake; a confection shaped like a piece of precious jade; a salted caramel macaron and a chamomile and honey scone. There are savouries too, including a tomato cream pastry with lump fish roe, a tiny chicken and leek pie, and tomato and fetta toast, plus free-flowing tea or coffee.

The high tea costs $70 per person and runs on weekends from Saturday January 9 to Sunday January 31 at Koi Ryde and Koi Chippendale. Bookings are essential.

Need more finger sandwiches and scones in your life? Here are more of Sydney's best high teas.

After opening in Las Vegas and touring to London and Berlin, Magic Mike Live opened in Sydney just in the nick of time to take our minds off the outside world and lose our fears about what 2021 could have in store for us amongst a sea of ripped bodies belonging to the Aussie cast of this raunchy romp. Don’t come in expecting the musical version of the films from which this live show takes its namesake. Instead, be prepared for a woke update of the classic male strip show. 

The Sydney Film Festival, the pinnacle of the city’s cinema-loving scene, had to head online in 2020, but returns to its spiritual home –  the glamorous surrounds of the State Theatre – for their first ever team up with Sydney Festival. Bringing the popcorn across the weekend of Friday January 15, 2021, to Sunday January 17 SFF director Nashen Moodley presents a small but perfectly formed capsule program of five fantastic films for the summer. 

So we've had movies in the park, movies by the beach, outdoor movies in bed, and movies set in front of the glorious Sydney Harbour – you'd almost believe that this city had exhausted all the possible ways of having an al fresco cinematic experience. Until now, that is. Mov'in Bed is upping the ante on summer movie-going this year and transforming into Mov'in Boat, by bringing a fun (and socially distanced) floating cinema to the harbour. 

The Tyrannosaurus Rex stars in a new blockbuster exhibition at the Australian Museum. And the 13-metre-long, saw-toothed, weedy-armed predator isn’t coming alone – the whole tyrannosaur clan will be there. The newly refurbished museum has a colossal collection of tyrannosaur skeletons, skulls, fossil eggs and even coprolites (fossilised dinosaur dung) on display for the whole family to discover.

While December in Sydney is a good deal toastier than in Arendelle, it’s pretty cool news that Elsa and Anna will bring the magic of Frozen to the city. The smash hit Disney animated movie was transformed into an equally in-demand Broadway musical, which now winds its way down to Australia just in time for Christmas. We'll be the first audiences to get a peek outside of New York.

Round up your drinking buddies, the frosé craze of summers past is not over yet. You can go DIY with the wine world’s adult slushie at this self-service frosé station returning Barangaroo’s tropical rooftop bar, Untied. The aptly named Frosé Your Way bar allows you to to choose from seven fruity flavours and a pick’n’mix of fresh and dried fruits and nostalgic lollies to garnish your bevvie including sour gummy worms, gummy bears and rainbow straps.

The first big-budget musical to open in Sydney since the Beforetime has so much relentless razzle-dazzle, Pippin is a high-energy carnival featuring circus acrobatics, vaudevillian schtick, high kicks, jazz hands, plenty of earworms and... medieval French history. Yep, you read that right.

There's not really much middle ground with these tasty treats of the sea: but there's one thing that unites oyster enthusiasts and it's the joy of being able to eat them by the dozen and have change to spare for a great glass of sparkling on the side. Here's where to go. 

It's universally acknowledged as one of Sydney's most aesthetically pleasing locations, but Icebergs' good looks come with a cost: the cost of dining from Maurice Terzini's carefully curated and fittingly pricey menu, specifically. If you want those views overlooking the sun-struck Pacific Ocean and buff lifeguards without forking out quite that much, the restaurant's new pop-up terrace bar should have you sorted for the summer months. 

There's nothing more likely than a round of mini-golf to coax the hyper-competitive streaks in siblings, school mates and family members to the surface. Now, you can face off with your foes (we mean, friends) at this pop-up putt putt experience in Parramatta. The Disney Pixar-themed mini-golf course teed off at the Bank West Stadium in Septemeber, and is sticking around until the end of January 31 due to popular demand.

Dial up the heat on what's set to be an already toasty summer with Winghaus by Bavarian's new three-month-long celebration of the mighty chicken wing. Kicking off on December 1 and wrapping up at the end of February, you've got plenty of time to go back again and again to get your hands on hot wings, beers and cocktails all summer long.

We love eating outdoors, be it fish and chips on the beach, a picnic in the park, or those coveted tables that line the street outside your local café. From Bondi Farmers' Market's corn fritters, to fluffy vegan doughnuts from the Vegan Market to vermicelli salad from Ramsgate Farmers Market, you've got options. 

Esteemed author Miles Franklin gave her name to Australia’s most prestigious book prize. Now you can see her first novel come alive on stage at Belvoir St thanks to a brand-new adaptation by Australian playwright Kendall Feaver (The Almighty Sometimes) and directed by Kate Champion (Every Brilliant Thing).

Sydney’s biggest entertainment park has opened in Bankstown in the city’s West. Filled with all manner of thrills and spills, Entertainment Park is home to a truly white-knuckle line-up of fun-filled activities, including arcade games, six full-size bowling alleys, party shops, food trucks, VR and digital simulators and even a barbershop. Plus, the new quarter lays claim to the largest collection of pinball machines in Sydney. No more smashing the space bar on your computer for a pinball fix. 

The beloved Surry Hilsl local is back, and it's doing long lunches. For $79 per person, start with a rosé spritz, move on to a shared feast featuring salmon tiradito (a kind of spiced ceviche), barbecued corn on the cob, an heirloom tomato salad, and a lot more – all set to the background tune of endless rosé, of course, when you head in between noon-3pm and book for at least four people.  

After months of lying dusty, the MCA is back in a big way, and it's fully embracing the new normal, throwing focus on Australian artists. Lindy Lee: Moon in a Dew Drop celebrates the Australian-Chinese artist’s genius, nimbly dancing through four decades of jaw-dropping creativity crossing mediums and cultures. A new piece of public art created by Lee, the mesmerising ‘Secret World of a Starlight Ember’, now adorns the Circular Quay forecourt.

In October, as Sydney kicked off its plans to transform into a 24-hour city, a host of bars and eateries in the Rocks were given the green light to embrace the warmer weather and set up outdoor dining tables and seating in the area's famous harbourside streets. Click through for the full list. 

When the sunny season kicks in, crowds flock to Sydney's most famous sandy stretches, but with well over 100 beaches to be found in and around the city, there are plenty of secluded shores to choose from if you'd prefer to sunbake with minimal human contact.

Cork and Canvas are inviting us back into the studio again. That’s right, you can dip your brush and wet your whistle in public once more at their Crows Nest and Darlinghurst sip and paint studios, with classes having started up again in early June. Most classes run from Wednesday through Saturday nights, with afternoon sessions on Sundays and some Saturdays, starting at $55 including materials (just BYO wine and snacks). 

Cities are amazing, but every now and then, it feels good to slow down, escape the urban jungle and get back to nature. Fortunately, you won’t have to travel very far to find yourself surrounded by verdant greenery and soothing solitude as you explore one of many national parks that can be found on Sydney's fringes. Next time you need a break from the pace of city living, we suggest you take a trip to one of these lush and leafy retreats within 100km of the CBD. 

Whether you're looking to go for a run, walk your dog, have a sedate picnic or just take a break from your four walls, these are the parks to visit. Remember to continue to practice physical distancing as much as you can while you're outdoors.